This invention relates generally to barbecue grills, and more particularly relates to barbecue grills of relatively great energy efficiency.
Barbecue grills have been used for many years by backyard cooking enthusiasts. Typically the heat necessary to barbecue meat and other foods in medium or large grills is generated by burning charcoal briquets. These charcoal grills satisfactorily generate heat, but undesirable side effects can occur. For example, briquette lighter fluid is sometimes used to ignite charcoal briquets, and the flames generated may be dangerous in small enclosures such as porches or balconies. For this reason, apartment buildings or condominiums often ban the use of charcoal grills on porches or balconies. In addition, the hot briquettes cannot always be cooled quickly and so it may be impossible to put away or leave a briquette grill immediately after a barbecue. Furthermore, disposing of briquette ash can be troublesome and messy.
Natural gas and propane barbecues provide added convenience over the charcoal grill in that new charcoal is not required for each use. Furthermore, a gas grill is ignited without the use of lighter fluid. But the gas fuel is supplied in discrete tanks, and so the grill user must refill the tank or acquire a replacement tank occasionally.
Electric grills have been used in an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of charcoal and gas grills. Electric grills use electricity to generate heat, and electricity is an inexpensive and plentiful source of energy which does not necessitate a trip to the store to purchase charcoal or to have the tank refilled with gas. However, to generate sufficient heat and temperatures with which to cook, presently available electric grills typically have large power demands. For even medium-sized electric barbecue grills, the amount of current required can approach the typical maximum current ratings for household wall outlets. If, however, the power requirements of the grill are reduced, then grills of large or even medium size may not be able to generate sufficient cooking heat or temperatures.
It is an object of this invention to provide an electric grill of a size sufficient to cook several steaks at once and yet which will provide sufficient cooking heat and temperatures from a typical household electric circuit. It is a further object of this invention to provide an energy-efficient cooking grill that requires less energy to generate sufficient cooking heat than has been required by prior electric grills.
Charcoal and gas grills often provide a grate upon which to cook food. This grate enables grease to escape from the underside of the food so that the food is barbecued and does not fry in its own grease. Many conventional electric grills provide a plate-like cooking surface from which grease does not drain so that the food ends up frying in the grease. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide means for raising the food above the collecting grease and for draining grease from the cooking surface.
Charcoal grills are often desired for the charcoal flavor they impart to the cooked food. In general, electric grills are not able to provide this charcoal flavor. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide an electric cooking grill that provides the barbecued flavoring of foods cooked on a charcoal grill.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.